Sports
PIHL Notebook – 02/23/2015
February 23, 2015
Welcome to another edition of “PIHL Notebook,” your weekly companion to “The PIHL Power Play” on the MSA Sports Network. First up, “Melting the Ice” provides your weekly thermometer of streaking teams around the league. Meanwhile, this week’s “Scoreboard Watch” includes a playoff clinching in Class A and a setback for a bubble team in Class AAA. Last but not least, we round things out with a four-pack preview of upcoming MSA broadcasts, our final regular season set, all of which feature playoff-bound teams. So, let’s light the lamp on this edition of “PIHL Notebook.” MELTING THE ICE (Records listed indicate current unbeaten streak): Class AAA: North Allegheny (7-0-2); Seneca Valley (5-0-0); Peters Township (3-0-1)This Week on the MSA Sports Network – 02/23/2015
Another golden weekend is here there and everywhere...wait a second, I'm sorry, the only place to find gold on the courts and on the mats this week is here on the MSA Sports Network. We have Quarterfinals, Semifinals, Consolations and the Championships EVERY DAY this week from the WPIAL, District 6 and District 9 basketball playoffs.
2015 WPIAL Class AA Individual Wrestling Championship Results
February 21, 2015
It was a magical weekend for South Fayette and not just because they got the opportunity to host the AA WPIAL individual Championships. It was thanks to their 160 pound senior who made history on Saturday. Jared Walker became the 25th wrestler in WPIAL history to become a four time WPIAL Champion, as he knocked off Jason Stay of Beth Center 3-1. For his achievement, Walker was named the Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament. In addition to Walker, South Fayette also had their 138 pounder Mike Carr win his second WPIAL title by defeating Evan Myers of Southmoreland 7-1.WPIAL Class AAA Individual Wrestling Sectional Results – 02/21/2015
The field for the 2015 WPIAL Class AAA Individual Wrestling Championships is now set following the results from all four Triple-A sections. The top five wrestlers from each section qualify for the district championships next weekend.
WPIAL Swimming Championships – Class AAA Day Two Results
North Allegheny boys and girls swim team came into the day with a commanding lead. That meant that today was all but a formality and PIAA qualifying day. Problem for the field was nobody told the Tigers that. North Allegheny picked up where they left off on the cold snowy day with their senior Morgan Soulia winning the Girls 100 Freestyle with a time of 50.75. {Left: Members of North Allegheny swim team celebrate in the pool after winning another WPIAL crown} We had Saturday's first WPIAL Record set when in 100 Yard Freestyle North Hills' Senior broke John Nappi of Mt Lebanon's 2011 record by a whole tenth of a second. Lovasik's finishing time was 45.02.
WPIAL Swimming Championships – Class AA Day Two Results
A snow storm hit Western Pennsylvania on Saturday morning but that didn't stop the participants in the Boys and Girls WPIAL AA Swimming Championships at the University of Pittsburgh. In front of a packed house at Joseph C. Trees Pool the second day of the championships were held. {Left: Members of Shady Side Academy girls swim team celebrate in pool after claiming their first WPIAL title}WPIAL Basketball Playoff Recaps for Friday, February 20th
With a couple of exceptions, the top seeds in each of the eight postseason basketball tournaments cruised through the First Round. That all changed BIG TIME on Friday when three top-seeds were eliminated from the district gold chase. Here are the recaps from the Boys Triple-A, Boys Single-A, Girls Quad-A and Girls Double-A Quarterfinals game from another frigid Friday night. A special thanks to Lou Rood, Dennis Fischer, Terry Neary, Bob Orkwis, Adam Hoerner, Randy Gore, Brandon Showers, Bob Gregg, Sean Meyers, Sam Hall, Rob Longo, Mike Sackley and Bob Barrickman for their help on these recaps. WPIAL CLASS AAA Quarterfinals:WPIAL AA Wrestling Championships – Day One Highlights
February 20, 2015
The first day of the AA WPIAL individual championships did not feature many upsets on the day, as the top two seeds in every weight classes advanced to the semi-finals with the exception of one, Nick Candelore of Fort Cherry at 106, who lost 11-1 to Manny Dovshek of Bentworth. Section Two was dominant in advancing wrestlers into the semi-finals, as they claimed over 50% of the spots with 29 of 56 wrestlers still alive in the winners bracket.WPIAL Swimming Championships – Class AAA Day One Results
The North Allegheny Tigers picked up where they left off in their dominance over the last several years as the Lady Tigers commanded a huge lead after day one of the WPIAL AAA Swimming Championships. The North Allegheny boys don’t have nearly the dominant lead but still have the advantage going into day two. The Upper St. Clair boys team, however, seem to possibly have the more elite level swimmers on the boys side as they swept the two team events and, in doing so, set two WPIAL records in the process. On the afternoon, there were several WPIAL records that fell.
WPIAL Swimming Championships – Class AA Day One Results
Friday was a great day for both the Shady Side Academy girls and the Quaker Valley boys as the Class AA WPIAL Swimming Championships got underway at Trees Pool at the University of Pittsburgh. Frigid temperatures forced a two-hour delay but, once the swimmers hit the water, the competition was intense.Scholastic Notebook – 02/20/2015
Highlands and Bishop Canevin are in the WPIAL boys basketball quarterfinals. Who would’ve thought you’d read that sentence this year? Highlands and Bishop Canevin are two of the biggest turnaround stories in the league over the past few years. Highlands (13-11) will play Indiana in the WPIAL Class AAA quarterfinals tonight. Two years ago, Highlands finished 1-21 under first-year coach Tyler Stoczynski. Highlands started to show signs of improvement last year, but still finished 9-13 and out of the playoffs.WPIAL Basketball Playoff Recaps for Wednesday, February 18th
February 19, 2015
After four days, the First Round of the 2015 WPIAL Basketball Playoffs is in the books. While there were few surprises in the first three days, that changed big on Day Four when a handful of double-digit seeds were surprising winners are are on their way to Quarterfinals Weekend. Here are recaps from all the First Round games played on a frigid Wednesday. A special thanks to Chris Lackner, Dennis Fischer, Mark Uriah, Mark Schaas, Brian Mroziak, Steve Nagler, Terry Neary, Scott Majesky, T.J. DiStefano, Bob Barrickman, Bob Gregg, Josh Rowntree, Mike Sackley, Brandon Showers, Lee Mohn, Adam Hoerner, Bob Orkwis, Lou Rood, Jason Kern and Gero Von Dahn for their help on these recaps, BOYS WPIAL CLASS AAAA First Round:
Mars Taylor Hockenberry Sets Record in Girls AA Diving Finals
Taylor Hockenberry of Mars set a new scoring record in capturing the WPIAL Class AA girls’ diving championship on Wednesday at Moon Area High School. Hockenberry, who finished second as a freshman last year, compiled a score of 506.05, eclipsing the previous mark of 505.45, set by Brittany Garza in 1998.
Uniontown’s Braden Carei Wins WPIAL Boys AA Diving Crown
February 18, 2015
In the Boys WPIAL Diving championships at Moon High School Uniontown's Braden Carei a senior wins his first WPIAL title in his third attempt. He finished 9th in 2012, and 7th in 2014 before winning this year. {Left: Braden Carei stands tall amongst top finishers at WPIAL Boys Class AA Diving Finals} After the first round of five dives Carei led the completion by 16 points. After the semi final three dives his lead increased by 8 points to 24. Going into the final three dives he had to make sure not to falter as the rest of the field kept diving well. In fact the first three finishers would have won last years competition based on their scores from Wednesday. On his final dive he scored a 57.40to win by 34 points.WPIAL Basketball Playoff Recaps for Tuesday, February 17th
After two days of no surprises, eye-brows were raised all over in Boys Class AAA as the lucky #13-seed rung true after the Highlands Golden Rams squeaked past the 4th-seed West Mifflin Titans. There were also a couple of scares for a pair of top-seeds. Here are recaps from the Boys AAA and A and Girls AAAA and AA First Round games played on Tuesday. A special thanks goes out to Gero Von Dahn, Lee Mohn, Matt Vandriak, Paul Paterra, Bob Gregg, Chris Lackner, Steve Nagler, Sean Meyers, Randy Gore, Mark Uriah, T.J. DiStefano, Lou Rood, Scott Briggs, Cory Campano, Mike Azadian, Brian Mroziak, Dennis Fischer, Bob Barrickman, Mark Schaas, Josh Rowntree and John Smathers for their help on these recaps. WPIAL CLASS AAA First Round:2014-2015 PIHL High School Hockey Standings
February 17, 2015
Here are the latest 2014-2015 standings for the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League. You can follow the PIHL high school hockey season with weekly audio and video broadcasts as well as ranking, plus the PIHL Notebook every Monday and the PIHL Power Play Show every Wednesday night at 8:00pm right here on the MSA Sports Network. * = Clinched a Penguins Cup Playoff Spot x = Eliminated from Penguins Cup Playoff Chase PIHL CLASS AAA (6 of 8 Playoff Teams Have Clinched) TEAM
Chartiers Valley’s Maria Lohman Wins 4th WPIAL AAA Diving Title
February 16, 2015
It was a perfect day for Chartiers Valley’s Maria Lohman, who set a personal best mark with 603.50 points in winning her fourth WPIAL championship in the WPIAL Girls Class AAA Diving Championship at North Allegheny High School. Lohman bested Mallory Charles of Pine-Richland by over 130 points to claim the gold and another trip to Bucknell University for the PIAA championship next month. Lohman is the defending PIAA champion and looks to win for a third time on the state level. With a 43 diver field in the preliminary round, she said she listened to her music and just concentrated on every dive. She was able to post a couple of tens on the scoreboard on the way to the win.
